Renaldo C. Blocker, Ph.D.

The purpose of this study is to explore if examining elements or factors in the operating room space will allow for an opportunity to design operating rooms to support resiliency and reduce fatigue among healthcare providers.

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of interruptions and unpredictable workloads on the working memory of emergency department doctors.

Modern health care has become increasingly complex with a rapid explosion of medical knowledge, increasing patient complexity, and financial constraints leading to increased patient panels. The implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) designed initially for billing has created additional burdens for documentation and usability issues. The cognitive capacity of clinicians remains unchanged and clinician burnout has risen. Advanced Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) have the potential to reduce cognitive burden through enhanced systems design. A new CDS tool, MEA, is being developed using a case-oriented approach with the foundational elements being clinician cognitive decisions, to provide support for decision making at the point of care. The objective of the current protocol is to obtain a baseline measure of the cognitive burden currently experienced as clinicians make a medical diagnosis, treatment, and management decisions with their patients. After the rollout of MEA to the practice, clinicians will again assess the cognitive burden in making medical diagnosis, treatment, and management decisions with their patients.